


Lost in the Woods

by Snowfall_In_Summer



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, F/M, Minor Swearing, Minor suicide tw, What if?, kristelsa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22111222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowfall_In_Summer/pseuds/Snowfall_In_Summer
Summary: Elsa has fled Arendelle in the wake of her coronation. As she tries to isolate herself, she runs into a familiar ice harvester and his reindeer.A little "what if" scenario that's been in my head for a while.
Relationships: Anna & Kristoff (Disney), Elsa/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 129





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've always felt that Kristelsa doesn't get the love it deserves, so I decided to contribute to the ship!

Elsa ran faster than she ever thought she could. The events of the past few hours seemed to come from a terrifying nightmare. Now all of Arendelle knew exactly what she was: a monster. Tears began to cloud her vision as she kept running through the forest, away from the fjord, away from everything she knew. Monsters didn’t deserve to live among normal people... 

As she ventured through the forest, Elsa came to a quick stop at a clearing. It was quite picturesque: covered in a blanket of snow, void of all trees, and a thin winding river that snaked from one edge of the treeline to the other. Elsa would have thoroughly enjoyed the scenery if she wasn’t here on her own forced exile. She sulked over and sat upon a large rock just by the water’s edge as she embraced herself. What were her options now? Hide in the mountains for the rest of her life? Disguise herself and live amongst the local population? Take her own life? She didn’t know. All she did know was that returning to Arendelle was never an option, for its sake and for Anna’s sake.

... _Anna…_

The thought of her sister being alone again tore through her heart like an icy spear. After all these years, she hated how she had to isolate herself from her own family. But it was for the best, so that she would never hurt her sister ever again. The idea stung worse than the cold around her. _Anna,_ she thought, tears streaming down her eyes, _I- I’m sorry…_

As she was wallowing in her own sadness, Elsa’s heart skipped a beat when she heard footsteps in the snow. Wolves? Soldiers coming to arrest her? She wasn’t certain. She leaped off of the rock and raised her ungloved hand. “S-stay back!” She shouted weakly, “I can and will hurt you!” The sounds grew louder as she tensed up. Elsa squeezed her eyes shut, ready to accept her fate. Just then, a gruff masculine voice called out to her.

“Hey! What are you doing up here alone?”

Elsa slowly opened her eyes to assess where the voice came from. In front of her, just across the river, a large man wearing a thick leather coat sat in a large brown sled pulled by a lone reindeer. His face was covered by a large cloth caked in snow, except for his large brown eyes, which were narrowed onto Elsa. He held a large rusty lantern in his hand, thrusted forward to Elsa’s position. 

“Well? Are you just gonna sit there or are you gonna answer me?” He asked. Elsa quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I-I’m fine,” she choked, “Don’t worry about me.”

The mystery man hopped out of the sled and waded through the snow towards Elsa. He said nothing as he crossed the small stream and carefully studied her. “You… don’t look like you belong here,” he said hesitantly, “where are you from? Are you hurt?”  
“You could say that…” Elsa replied, holding back tears, “Look, I just want to be alone right now so-”

“You won’t last long out here,” the man interrupted, taking large steps towards her, “Look, the city isn’t too far from here let me-”

“ _NO!”_ Elsa began to back away from the man. Tears began to form in her eyes again. “I can’t go back there.”

“So you’d rather deal with the wolves?”

“Arendelle is safer without me! I can’t go back!”

“And why exactly is Arendelle safer with you gone?”

Elsa opened her mouth retort when she noticed the man’s reindeer perk up. The man quickly pivoted and held his lantern up high, scanning the tree line. A howl broke the silence between them.

“Get in the sled,” he commanded.

“What?” 

“Don’t argue, just get in!” the man grabbed Elsa’s ungloved hand and bolted towards the sled. He threw her in the passenger seat as he gripped the reins. “Move it, Sven!” he shouted. With no hesitation, the reindeer bolted away. 

Looking behind at the forest whizzing past, Elsa let out a small gasp. Five wolves started chasing them, their gray fur almost blending in with the snow. One of the beasts rushed up to the side of the sled and snapped its jaws at the blond. Elsa raised her hands to shield her face as she felt a surge of magic blast from her palm. Ice covered the wolf’s face as it tumbled away with a whimper. 

Looking off to her right, the man was having his own troubles. He struggled as he tried to reach for his lantern as he was holding a wolf back with his hand. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the lantern's handle, he swung it violently at the wolf. She heard a loud THUNK as the wolf fell with a yelp.

“Do you have a plan to get us out of this?” Elsa asked nervously.

“There should be a road around here,” the man said as he gripped the reins, “They tend to stay away from the… Dammit!”

Looking ahead, Elsa’s eyes widened at the sight before her. A massive gap, almost 30 feet wide, sat between them and the next stretch of land. The man pulled back on the reins, bringing the sled to a complete stop.

Elsa’s heart sank at the situation. _I’m going to die,_ she thought as her body began to shake violently. She shut her eyes, ready to accept her fate to the wolves, when she heard what seemed to be shattering glass followed by a series of animalistic whines and yelps. As she cautiously opened her eyes, she saw the man beside her, mouth agape and eyes wide like dinner plates. Elsa looked around her and was mortified at the sight. Large jagged ice spikes jutted from the ground, each looking gnarled and sharp. Turning around, she saw one of the few remaining wolves impaled through several pikes, its blood coating each icy spear that ran through it. Elsa’s body began to shake furiously at the sight. Time felt like it had stopped as she cradled herself in her arms again. It wasn’t until the man decided to speak that Elsa came back from her panic.

“That…”

“I know,” Elsa choked.

“WAS INCREDIBLE!”

“Wait, what?” Elsa snapped her head to stare at the man, giving him a confused look. 

The man quickly jumped off of the sled and ran towards a nearby spire. He removed one of his gloves and ran his bare hand up and down the icy spear. “You have ice magic? How?”

The young queen was taken aback by the man’s question. “Well, I, uh, was b-born with magic.” She stammered, unsure of the man’s intentions, “It’s more of a curse than anything…”

“Well that ‘curse’ of yours just saved our lives!”

Elsa began to protest, but abruptly stopped. In a way the man was right. If her powers hadn’t flared, the three of them would have been wolf food. It made her feel slightly better about herself. The man continued to gush over the newly formed ice. 

“If I could control ice like that, it’d make my job a hell of a lot easier. You see, I’m an ice harvester and-”

“Weren’t you listening?!” She snapped, “It’s a curse! I can’t control it, all it does is hurt people…”

“It didn’t hurt me, though. And Sven is scratch free, too.”

The two of them turned to the reindeer, who had his tongue stuck to one of the jagged spears. The man dashed over to his animal companion and yanked it free of the ice.

“Look, I can take you as far away as the North Mountain. There’s a village nearby if you need anything. It’s the least we can do to thank you for saving our lives, right Sven?” The man bent down near the reindeer’s head

“SuRe tHiNg!” The man replied in a goofy tone, as if he was speaking for the reindeer. Elsa let her jaw go slightly agape at the sight. A part of her found it quite amusing. The other part was terrified beyond words.

“Uh… t-thank you.” she finally said after a moment of silence. The man walked over to Elsa and extended his hand.

“The name’s Kristoff,” he said warmly. Elsa gingerly clasped her gloved hand in his massive palm giving him a warm smile.

“Elsa… and thank you.”

With that, Kristoff and Elsa slowly walked back to the sled. All the while, Elsa’s thoughts raced inside her head. All her life she felt like everyone would turn on her when they found out the truth. She always thought people would rally to burn her at the stake for witchcraft or something like that. Now there was someone not only accepting of her powers, but also excited by them! She eased the tension in her body as she hoisted herself back into Kristoff’s sled (with his help, the gentleman that he was.) With a quick snap of the reins, Sven turned and bolted through the snow, carefully as to avoid the jagged ice that now surrounded them, as they made their way to the North Mountain.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things:  
> 1\. This really shouldn't have taken as long as it did. Between school, work, and trying to figure out how to continue this in a natural way really dragged be down with this one.  
> 2\. A BIG shout out to ErzaDragneel for just dumping a boatload of kudos on this fic. It really means a lot to me!
> 
> Anyways, Enjoy!

The ride up to the North Mountain was a relatively silent one. Neither Kristoff nor Elsa said a thing as Sven trudged through the snow. Elsa looked off to the side of the sled, watching the trees zipping by, secretly praying that no more wolves would attack them. Kristoff fixed his gaze on the path ahead, occasionally stealing a look at the woman beside him. Some things still didn’t feel right to him about this. She looked  _ way _ too rich to be out alone in the woods like this. The way she was dressed made her look more like one of those fancy snobs over in the city, the ones that were here for the coronation. It didn’t take long for him to finally break the silence.

“So… uh, did you come for the coronation? I heard that was a big event back in Arendelle.”

“You could say that,” she murmured, “But that doesn’t matter now, I’ve ruined everything.”

“And why is that?”

“My powers… they were meant to be a secret to the world. My sister and I had a fight and I lost control for a moment. That’s when I ran.”

“Oh, you have a sister? What’s her name?”

“Anna. We used to be so close as children… until I- nevermind.”

“Until you what? You can’t just stop there and expect me  _ not _ to ask questions.”

Elsa turned and gave him a dirty look. Her facial features relaxed as she continued. “One night we were secretly playing and I… hurt her with my powers. It was a moment of panic, I tried to stop her from falling, but I ended up hitting her. She was motionless, ice cold even. It was a miracle that she survived”

“Oh, I- I’m so sorry. If you don’t mind me asking… how did she survive?”

“You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

Elsa rolled her eyes. “We ended up taking her to the trolls in the valley. Their elder managed to fix her, but he had to wipe the memory of my powers from her mind. It’s crazy, I know, but… but that’s what happened.”

Kristoff’s eyes grew wide as he thought about the woman’s words. Surely she didn’t mean Grandpabbie and the trolls of the Valley of the Living Rock. Bulda would have told him such a thing! Although, his mind fell back to when he was a boy, the day he was found by the trolls. Those people who came looking for help, was that…

“See? You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“No,” Kristoff placed a hand on her shoulder, staring into her soft sapphire eyes, “I believe you. I’ve seen them before and what they’re able to do.”

“Really?”

“Yep! I once saw one of them turn a stone into a loaf of bread. Tasted like it, too.”  
“They let you that close? I thought they didn’t like people.”

“Eh, they like some people. Orphans, mostly.” He probably shouldn’t have said that, he thought to himself, as Elsa looked at him with a shocked expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t so bad,” Kristoff returned his eyes to the path ahead, “Honestly, they’re all the family I ever needed. People are just… ya know…” Kristoff wanted to say  _ awful,  _ but something in his mind told him that wasn’t the right word. As he racked his brain for the right word, Sven jerked to a stop. They were now in the middle of a small cluster of four log cabins just a few miles from the North Mountain. It felt like a ghost town, as there were no people or animals around except for the three of them.

“Where are we?” Elsa asked, scanning the area.

“This is where some of the ice harvesters live during the off season,” Kristoff explained. He pointed to the cabin directly in front of them. “That one there’s mine. It’s probably nothing compared to what they have in Arendelle, but it’s a home.” He circled around to Elsa’s side, stopping to grab a small sack from the back, and extended his hand. Elsa hesitantly reached out and placed her gloved hand in his. She was taken aback by the sheer size of his hand, how it easily dwarfed her own. Carefully, she stepped out of the sled and onto the freshly laid snow on the ground. Kristoff led her to the wood cabin while she wrapped her arms around her torso. Kristoff jimmied with the lock for a second, muttering a few curse words before the door swung wide open. The inside of the cabin was quite modest, with a small wooden cot nestled in the corner next to a large fireplace. Other than the small table in the corner, the room was absolutely bare. Kristoff crouched in front of the stone fireplace, striking a flint with a metal bit. The small bundle of sticks he placed in the mouth of the fireplace were set ablaze in an instant, the flames almost hypnotic to Elsa. Her entire life was spent surrounded by cold and ice, so she was usually drawn towards places of warmth to escape that sad reality.

“I’ll be back, there’s a few things I’ve got to deal with in town,” Kristoff said as he turned to Elsa.

“Wait, what?” Elsa said, breaking her fixation on the flames to look at Kristoff.

“I won’t be long, I’ll be back shortly,” he placed the small bag on the table, “Here, this has some food in it, you’re probably hungry.”

Before Elsa had a chance to protest, Kristoff closed the door behind him. She could hear the sled dash off into the distance until she was left in silence once again. The quietness allowed Elsa’s mind to race with about a thousand thoughts a second. This man, whom she just met a few hours ago, saw her powers, how destructive they were, and still trusted her enough to allow her to stay in his house alone. He was so impressed with the ice she made, he wasn’t even afraid, unlike-

Elsa’s breath hitched at the thought. All of the events from the past few hours came rushing back…

_ … Why do you shut me out?! Why do you shut the world out?!... _

_ … Sorcery! I knew there was something dubious going on here… _

_ … Monster! MONSTER!!... _

Tears clouded her vision as she silently sobbed. How could someone like Kristoff think so highly of this…. This  _ curse?  _ The guilt and shame of the past few hours tore her insides apart, like a ravenous badger had taken home in her stomach. Even now, there were still people near her. People who are in great danger. She made a decision; it wasn’t safe for her to be here. She hastily grabbed the bag on the table and quietly opened the door. Luckily, no one was out yet. She slammed the door shut and proceeded to dash towards the North Mountain, unsure of where she was going.

_ Anywhere is better than here,  _ she thought, tears still pricking the corners of her eyes.

XXXXXX   
  


Dawn was starting to approach as Kristoff and Sven made their way back to the city. He just needed to grab some extra blankets and some more food for his new guest, then once she was properly taken care of, maybe he could help her discuss her options. A few things still didn’t click properly about this situation. What happened with her powers that caused her to run away like that? Did she kill someone? Made a scene? Whatever it was, all he could hope is that she found some kind of peace as soon as she left Arendelle.

As he got farther and farther from the North Mountain, something stuck him as odd. It was July, right? If that was so, why were there still heaps of snow all over the ground? The whole area looked to be in the middle of December, not summer. Could it be… Kristoff struggled to remember her name. It was on the tip of his tongue. Elizabeth? No… Elphaba? That didn’t seem right either... Alfalfa? Who would name their daughter that?

“ELSA?!”

“Elsa! That was it!” Kristoff proclaimed, “Wait, who said that?” Sven perked his ears up as he and Kristoff looked around for whoever said that. After a moment of silence, the two of them continued on their way, convincing themselves that it was just-

“ELSA?! ELSA?!”

The mystery voice got louder. A young woman from the sound of it. Kristoff snapped the reins as Sven dashed forward. It didn’t take long for them to hear a small yelp followed by the winny of a startled horse. Kristoff, assuming the worst, jumped out of the sled and raced for the noise’s origin. As he approached a small brook, he was absolutely shocked at what he saw. A young redheaded woman was covered almost entirely in a large pile of snow, desperately trying to call her horse back. Sven joined up with him almost immediately and was just as taken aback as Kristoff.

“Uh, do you need some help?” Kristoff asked quizzically. The young woman turned to him with a look of shock on her face. Any freckles still visible on her body vanished under a deep shade of red.

“Oh, ummmm, hey…” She said meekly, “Y-yeah, if you could help me, I’d really appreciate it!”

Kristoff sauntered over to the young woman, placed his hands under her arms, and with one quick yank, hoisted her from the snowpile. As she brushed herself off, Kristoff couldn’t notice the way she was dressed. She wore an olive green skirt adorned with crocuses and a black top, much like how people in the town dressed. Her copper hair had a white streak through it and was tied in a bun with a green and silver ribbon. She looked like she came right out of a fairy tale.  _ Two in one day? _ Kristoff thought.

“Thank you so much!” the redhead said, brushing the last of the snow off of her skirt. “I was out here looking for my sister and some snow fell off a tree and spooked my horse and-”

“Your sister?” Kristoff interrupted, “What’s she doing out here?”

“Well, we sorta had a fight and she maaaay have set off an eternal winter while she was running. It’s weird, I know.”

Kristoff had to do a double take at the young woman’s words. “Your sister has ice powers too?”

“‘Too?’”

“I just met someone who has the power to make ice, she’s up in my cabin near the North Mountain.”

“That has to be Elsa!”

“Wait, does that mean you’re-”

“Princess Anna of Arendelle.” Anna gave a small curtsey, “Um, is everything okay? You look a little… startled.”

Kristoff couldn’t help but let his eyes grow wide as his heart skipped a beat. “I-if you’re the princess and Elsa’s sister… does that mean she’s-”

“The Queen of Arendelle, yes.”

“Oh, shit…” Kristoff felt light headed as he held onto Sven for support. The  _ QUEEN?!  _ He met the queen and didn’t even realize it!

“Hey, uh…. Y-you said she’s at your cabin?”

“YES! Yes, I- uh brought her there so she’d be safe. Wolves and whatnot, ya know?”

Anna let out a sharp gasp. “ _ Wolves?!  _ She faced wolves? Ohmygosh is she alright?!” 

Kristoff regained his composure. “Yeah, she’s doing fine. I was just-”

“Please, can you take me to her?”

“Ya know, most people run off to be alone and-”

“She’s the key to ending this winter. Just, please, I need to talk to her.”

Kristoff could hear the desperation in the princess’s voice. Who was he to deny reuniting a family? That and she’d probably have him executed if he didn’t help her.

“Alright, hop in.”

Anna grinned brightly as she scurried to the sled. Kristoff hopped back into the driver side, snapped the reins, and dashed back to the North Mountain.


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa stretched out her arms as she observed the morning sun trickle over the mountains from her icy balcony. After she fled from the ice harvester’s village, she found herself at the summit of the North Mountain, where she constructed a grand ice palace to live in. It was far enough away from people that she could be free and alone, without hurting anybody. She stared at her reflection on the floor. Gone was her coronation gown and all the accessories. In its place, Elsa magically fashioned an aqua blue sequined dress. She also undid her bun to allow a long platinum blond braid to cascade over her shoulder. It was simply a quick wardrobe change, but for the first time in her life, she felt a smidge of freedom.

Yet, Elsa could still feel guilt settle in her heart. She wouldn’t have to do this if it weren’t for these stupid powers. She wouldn’t have been forced to flee if she was normal. She wouldn’t have fought with-

Elsa let out a deep sigh. Her thoughts brought her back to Anna and how she treated her. She should have told Anna before the coronation. She had  _ tried _ , but Anna insisted that that man was there too. They had to have been bluffing when they asked for her blessing. And the sheer nerve of her too, saying she knew more about love than Elsa did! She gripped the railing of the balcony as anger bubbled over her. As she let her anger boil inside her, Elsa could hear the sound of something crackling. Looking down at her tightly gripped hands, a surge of panic overcame her. Around her hands, sharp jagged spikes of ice began forming, much like what had happened with the wolves. She eased her grip on the railing and, with a snap of her fingers, dissolved the jagged spikes. Elsa quickly walked back into the palace, panic overtaking her fear.

If there was one positive from the previous night that she could think of, it was that she met someone who at least tried to make her feel better about her powers. Kristoff seemed nice and caring, he even let her stay in his cabin. Elsa couldn’t help but smile. Whoever his wife was, she must’ve been incredibly lucky to have him… 

XXXXXX   
“Wait, so you promised to marry a man you met the same day?!”

Kristoff sat in disbelief as Sven dragged him and Anna through the snow. After stopping by a local trading post to get Anna out of her wet and cold dress, the redhead explained the situation leading up to Elsa running away. What took Kristoff by surprise was that she apparently was engaged to a prince she just met before the ceremony. Anna gave him a disgusted look at his interjection.

“Yes… but Hans is a good man,” Anna said.

“Everyone seems good at first… then you get to know them.”

“You live in the mountains, what would you know about people?”   
“It’s not like I’m alone out here. I’ve got at least four other people working with me.”

“And they’re all… bad?”

“What? No, it’s just that… I had to know them before I could make any, ya know,  _ real _ judgement on them.”

“So you thought they were bad to begin with?”

Before Kristoff had any chance to rebut that statement, Sven came to a complete stop. They were back in the small pseudo-village of ice harvesters Kristoff had left a few hours before. Sven had positioned the sled in front of the ice man’s cabin.

“Alright, Elsa should still be inside,” Kristoff explained jumping out of the sled. Anna jumped out right before he had a chance to help her down as she bolted for the door. Secretly, he was amazed that she still had this much energy despite being submerged in snow just a few hours prior. She flung the door open and dashed inside as Kristoff quickly followed behind. Before he had a chance to get inside, Anna reappeared at the door, scowling fiercely.

“What did you do to her?” She demanded.

“What? I just let her stay here and-”

“She’s. Not. Here.”

Kristoff looked at Anna with confusion. “Uh… excuse me?”

Anna stepped aside so Kristoff could enter. Sure enough, the only people in the cabin were Anna and himself. Kristoff’s heart sank in his chest as panic shot up his spine.

“Oh, no…”

“What happened to my sister?!”

“I-I don’t know, she was here when I left and-“

“HEY, BJORGMAN!” A voice shouted from outside. Anna and Kristoff shot their heads at the doorway to see who it was. A blocky and rather tall woman wearing identical clothing to Kristoff was standing by Sven, stroking the beast’s fur. Her hat did a poor job at keeping her brown hair hidden as it spilled out from underneath.

“What do you want, Freya?” Kristoff groaned. The woman turned her head to meet Kristoff’s hazel eyes with her emerald ones.

“Oh, another one, eh Kristoff?” She said shifting her gaze to Anna, “don’t be greedy, troll boy. Save some women for the rest of us!”

“Why you…!” Anna growled. She was about ready to pounce on Freya before Kristoff gripped her by the waist. 

“No, but did you see what happened to her?” He asked struggling to keep the redhead from mauling the other woman.

“As soon as you left, I saw her bolt out the door and ran up the mountain. I knew you were bad with women, but  _ yeesh,  _ she looked like she was about to cry!”

Anna turned to Kristoff with murder in her eyes. He scrambled to find something to say.

“Y-you said she went up the mountain?”   
“Yep! No idea what she’s doing up there, though. Crazy broad must have a thing for hiking.”

“THAT ‘CRAZY BROAD’ HAPPENS TO BE MY SISTER AND  _ YOUR _ QUEEN!!” Anna roared as she snapped her head back to Freya, struggling to escape the mountain man’s grip. Freya’s face turned pale as her eyes grew wide.

“Y-you’re kidding…” Freya stammered. She turned to Kristoff and asked, “She’s kidding, right?”

“I wish I could say yes…” Kristoff winced. Freya began backing away from the reindeer.

“Uh, well, I-I guess I should go,” She stammered. In an instant, she bolted away from the sled and into a neighboring house. Kristoff let go of Anna, who kicked the air in the direction of Freya.

“Why that no good… scummy…  _ BITCH!” _

__ “Take it easy. Freya pokes at people like that all the time. It’s best if you ignore her.”

“‘Take it easy?’ How would you feel if someone said that stuff about your own family?”

“Trust me, I’ve gotten the most out of everyone here.”

“Then why take it?”

“They’re just words. Not like they really hurt anyone.” In reality, Kristoff could remember the early years of ice harvesting, where if he wasn’t getting lambasted at the orphanage for being interested in ice, he was out on the ice fields getting called “Troll boy,” and finding twigs and moss in his bed. Those early years were rough, but he weathered through them nonetheless.

“Look. I-I’m sorry about Freya. She can be a bit much sometimes…”

Anna sighed, “It’s fine. Let’s just try and find Elsa.”

“OH! OH! I know who that is!”

Anna and Kristoff looked around for whoever said that. The small enclave was completely deserted, save the three of them. It wasn’t until Kristoff felt a small tug on his pant leg. Looking down, he noticed a snowman staring back up at him, beaming like a small child.

“Hi,” it said. Anna yelped as she kicked the snowman’s head off its shoulders. The body ran after it and placed it back in its place. Kristoff was a bit mortified at the sight, but said nothing as it waddled back to them. “Woah! Head rush!” it said, looking back up at their mortified faces, “Uh, is everything alright?”

“It’s just that… we’ve never seen a snowman talk before…” Kristoff said hesitantly as Anna stooped down to further examine the snowman.

“Oooooh, I see.” 

“You look… familiar…” Anna tilted her head, “and you said you knew Elsa?”

“Yep! Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs.”

Anna’s face lit up, “That’s right! Olaf!”

“... and you are?”

“Oh! I’m Anna,” Anna motioned to the ice harvester and reindeer, “This is Kristoff and Sven.”

Kristoff knelt next to Olaf and took out one of his arms. Despite being removed from the body, it still clenched its fist like it was still attached. Olaf grabbed his arm back with his other hand.

“No, Sven. That’s mine,” he scolded.

“ _ I’m  _ Kristoff, he,” Kristoff pointed to the reindeer, “is Sven. Got it?”

“Okay, Kristopher!”

“ _ Kristoff!” _

Anna let out a small giggle. “Olaf, do you know where Elsa is?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I need her to fix the weather and bring back summer.”

“Oh, I  _ love  _ summer! She’s this way, let’s go!” Olaf began waddling towards the northern running road, up the mountain. 

“You know this thing?” Kristoff asked Anna as they got up.

“Elsa and I used to make snowmen all the time. We even called all of them Olaf and said they liked warm hugs.”

Kristoff remembered Elsa’s story, how they used to be so close before Anna got hurt. Thinking about that while Anna only remembered partial truths sent a twinge of sadness through his soul.

“Olaf! Wait up!” Anna dashed after the snowman, who somehow managed to get a good amount of distance between them. Kristoff shook his head somberly. He couldn’t see Elsa wanting to come back to Arendelle with how she was talking about herself. Anna didn’t seem like the kind of person to take ‘no’ for an answer either.

_ If anything, this should be interesting, _ Kristoff thought as he and Sven ran after the princess and the snowman.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay with this one, if you noticed this is a pretty big part. The longest chapter I've written for a fic, actually.
> 
> Enjoy!

Kristoff let his mouth hang agape at the sight he beheld. As he and Anna made their way up the mountain, they came across large icy pikes, each hanging sideways and as sharp as needles. There was no denying it: Elsa had been this way.

Removing his glove, Kristoff placed a bare hand on a nearby spike. It was cold, but still firm, a sign that it was fresh ice.  _ Elsa shouldn’t be too far from here,  _ he thought. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Olaf had managed to pierce his midsection on a short spire, all the while giggling like a child. Anna yanked him off the pike and plopped him back on his wandering legs. At this point, he had seen enough magic to be desensitized by something like this. Sven was at his side, slightly cowering at the jagged ice all around them. Kristoff placed a reassuring hand on his reindeer friend, casually stroking the beast’s fur.

“So, uh,” Kristoff yelled back to Anna, “What’s the plan with Elsa?”

“I’m gonna talk to her,” Anna replied, “We need her back in Arendelle to fix the winter.”

Kristoff shot her a surprised look, “That’s your plan?! Just  _ talk  _ to her?”

“Ok, I haven’t thought about all the details yet, but when we get there, I’m sure something will come to me.”

“I sure hope it does, or we’ll be out of a job,” he muttered to himself. He didn’t show it, but deep down he was slightly scared. If the winter was as bad as Anna had described, it could jeopardize his livelihood. And what was he to do then? Ice was his life, he didn’t know what else he would do...

As they reached the summit, Kristoff stopped abruptly as Anna ran into him.

“Hey! Why’d you stop?!” The princess demanded. Kristoff said nothing as he pointed in front of him. A massive crystalline palace sat perched on the side of the mountain, beautifully fashioned and glistening in the sunlight of the midday. Kristoff was awestruck by the creation before him. The craftsmanship, the attention to detail, the  _ ice _ . It was almost too much for him to take all at once.

“Now  _ that’s  _ ice!” Kristoff said, “I think I might cry…”

“Go ahead,” Anna replied, taking a few steps forward, “I won’t judge.” Kristoff broke from his trance and scurried after Anna and Olaf up the stairs before them. Sven stayed behind, understanding that these steps wouldn’t hold a fully grown reindeer, not to mention that his tongue was currently stuck on the icy railing.

Kristoff was still enamored by the ice structure around him. He had never seen ice sculpted like this before, nor had he seen it as this pristine aquatic blue before. As the three of them approached the top, they were stopped by two enormous doors of ice. Anna stepped forward and raised her fist, ready to knock on the door, but she hesitated.

“Just knock…” Olaf encouraged, “Go on, knock…” the snowman leaned over to Kristoff, “I don’t think she knows how to kno-”

As Olaf said that, Anna banged on the door thrice. The doors swung inward, catching all of them by surprise.

“Well, that’s a first,” Anna said as she turned to Kristoff, “Uh, you should probably stay here.”

“What?” Kristoff gawked, “Elsa  _ knows  _ me! It’s not like I’m some random stranger.”   
“I get that, it’s just… this is sort of a family thing, I hope you understand.”

Kristoff could do nothing but scoff in agreement as Olaf began trodding into the building, “So long, Christopher!” he shouted before Anna stopped him.

“Olaf, I need you to stay out here too.”   
“Aww, why?”

“I need a moment with her, okay? It’ll just be a minute.”

“Oh, okay!”

Anna walked into the building as Olaf took a seat on the stairs and began counting. Kristoff joined the snowman as he propped his head up with his hand. He was secretly praying that Anna could fix this “eternal winter” as she called it, less for his sake, but more for the sake of the other ice harvesters. Unlike Kristoff, a lot of those harvesters had families and loved ones that they supported through the ice harvest. What would happen if all of them lost their jobs? Maybe if Anna could convince Elsa to come back, she could figure something out.

_ Hopefully…  _ he thought as he tried zoning out Olaf’s constant counting.

XXXXXX   
  


Elsa sat alone in her newly constructed dining room, munching on an apple. She praised herself for grabbing that sack of food before running up here, since she didn’t have much around her for sustenance. As she let the juices of the apple trickle down her throat, she came to realize how…  _ boring  _ life was in isolation. In her haste, she had forgotten to bring something to occupy her time. She tried making ice sculptures to talk to, ice skating, and building a few snowmen, but nothing really staved off boredom for long enough.  _ I really wish I brought a book or something,  _ she thought, taking another bite of the apple and absentmindedly bouncing her foot. She raised her free hand and began making quick gestures onto the table before her. Ice and snow swirled in a miniature flurry upon the icy surface. When it had dissipated, two miniature crystalline figures stood on the table, one which looked like an exact replica of Anna, and the other was in the likeness of Kristoff. She let out a small sigh, slumping over onto the table and allowing the apple to tumble out of her hand. This wasn’t the most ideal situation for her, but it was necessary, for Anna and the rest of Arende-

“Elsa?”

The queen shot up in her seat. Was that… Anna? Elsa picked up the small Anna figure and twirled it around in her hand. With no response, she put it back on the table, shaking her head somberly. Perhaps this isolation was starting to affect her hea-

“El- WOAH!”

Elsa jumped out of her seat. She definitely heard what sounded like Anna’s voice. She hastened out of the dining room and down the icy stairs, unsure of what she would find. Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she hesitantly peeked her head around the corner. In the main entryway of the palace, she saw Anna trying her best not to slip on the icy floor.  _ Just like when we were kids… _ Elsa thought.

“Anna?” she said coming out to the grand staircase with a warm smile on her face. Anna shot her head up to where Elsa was standing, her eyes wide like saucers.

“Woah, Elsa,” the redhead exclaimed, “You look different! N-not like different in a bad way, in a good way! And this,” she gestured to the palace around her, “just… wow!”

“Thank you. I never knew what I was capable of…”

  
“Yeah… Look, Elsa, I’m sorry,” Anna started making her way up the stairs, “I had no ide-”

“No no no, it’s okay,” Elsa started backing away, worried she might hurt her sister again, “Y-you don’t have to apologize. I-I think you should go.”

“But I just got here.”

“You belong back home, in Arendelle…”

“So do yo-”

“No, I belong up here. Where I can be alone and not hurt anyone.”

“Yeah, about that…” before Anna could say anything else, she was interrupted by, “Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, SIXTY! HI, I’M OLAF AND I LIKE WARM HUGS!” A snowman bolted through the doors over to where Anna was standing. Elsa wondered whether it was the prolonged isolation or the food that was causing this obvious hallucination. At least, she thought it was a hallucination until Anna put her arm around it. Before she had time to process the talking snowman in her presence, a familiar voice echoed throughout the ice palace.

“Olaf! Wait!” Kristoff dashed through the doors and over to where Anna and Olaf were, “She didn’t mean a literal min...ute?” he looked up, his brown eyes meeting her sapphire ones. His face turned a bright red upon seeing her.

“Kristoff?” She asked.

“Elsa!” he began scratching the back of his head, “Uh, I-I mean, Your Majesty… I had no idea you were-”

Elsa’s eyes went wide. How could she have forgotten to tell him? “Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry I didn’t-”

“It’s fine, really. Anna filled me in on the way up here.”

The queen smiled warmly at the ice harvester and his kindness before turning towards Anna and… Olaf?  _ Why does that name sound familiar? _

“Olaf?”

“You remember me, right?” he asked like a small child, “you made me.”

“Just like when we were little, Elsa, remember? We can be like that again.”

_ Yeah… _ Elsa thought. Suddenly memories started flooding back. Memories of that awful night…

_ Catch me!... _

_ It’s too high!... Anna, stop! _

_ ANNA! _

Elsa snapped back to reality in an instant, “No.”

“What?” Kristoff and Anna said in unison. Elsa started backing towards the stairs.

“We can’t. Goodbye, Anna.” She ran up the stairs, cradling herself in her arms and attempting to mask her tears. She couldn’t hurt Anna, not again. Unfortunately, Anna wasn’t having any of it.

  
“You think I’m just going to walk away from you?!” Anna marched up the glass-like stairs, scowling fiercely. Kristoff ran over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Maybe we should just leave her b-”

“Get. Off. Me.” Anna jerked her body away from the ice harvester as she followed Elsa up the stairs. “You’re being ridiculous, Elsa! I’m not leaving without you.”

Elsa spun around on the stairs, “More ridiculous than marrying a man you just met?” How could Anna not see how dangerous Elsa was? Why wouldn’t she understand that this was for her own good?!

“This again?! At least he cares about me!”

The sisters’ argument echoed throughout the palace. Kristoff gripped his fur jacket tight around him as he felt the temperature drop. It was then the ice harvester made a sudden realization.

_ When she scared off the wolves, she didn’t do it willingly. She was scared. Her powers, they have to be emotion based. What happens when she’s… oh no! _ Kristoff ran up the stairs after the two, only to find them at the top still arguing.

“For the last time, Anna. Go. Home.”

“Not without you! We need you back in Arendelle!”

  
“I’m just trying to protect you!”

“Protect me?! I climbed up this  _ damn  _ mountain by myself to get you back and you want to  _ protect  _ me?!” The two of them were now arguing in the top floor of the palace, with a large ice chandelier hanging above them.

Kristoff tried to intervene as a large blizzard began swirling around the room, “Uh… guys…”

“Enough, Anna. Just go home.”

“I BURIED OUR PARENTS ALONE BECAUSE OF YOU!”

“I SAID ENOUGH!” A powerful blast radiated out of Elsa. Kristoff ducked behind a large ice wall as the energy splashed out to the edges of the room, followed by a small whimper. When Kristoff emerged, he saw Elsa, frozen in place and her hands on her mouth with Anna doubled over, her hair slowly turning from copper to a snowy white. Kristoff ran over to Anna and helped her to her feet. Even through his thick fur gloves, Anna’s skin felt cold to the touch.

“Anna…” Elsa murmured clasping her hands together, “N-no. you need to leave.”

“Elsa, we’re not leaving without you.” Kristoff said. Anna did nothing but glare at her sister.

“Yes, you are.” Elsa conjured magic from her hands and threw it to the ground. In a swirling flurry, a hulking monstrosity arose from the floor, it’s fingers made of icicles. Without a second to react, the icy golem grabbed Anna and Kristoff and carried them out of the room as Elsa turned away from them. Kristoff struggled under the icy clutch of the monster, but to no avail. The only time it released them was when it hurled them out of the palace.

  
**_“Go away,”_ ** it said in a somewhat somber tone. The two of them landed in a small snow bank just before the stairs. Anna weakly scooped up some snow in her hands and compacted it into a rough sphere shape.

“It’s… n-not nice… to throw people…” she huffed. She raised the snowball over her head and threw it with all her might, only to have it fall right in front of her as she doubled over again, letting out an agonized groan. Kristoff ran over to her, watching as the last of her red hair turned as white as the snow around them. Anna attempted to walk forward as she fell forward, falling into Kristoff’s arms.

“Save your strength,” He said as he picked her up, “You’re in no condition to do anything.”

“B-But your ice business…”

“It’s fine.” He turned to Sven, who was still stuck to the railing. “Hey, pal, can you get her and Olaf to Grandpabbie?” As if on queue, the parts of Olaf came hurling at them from the palace, sticking to a rock nearby.

“Woah, now  _ that’s  _ an arm!” the snowman’s head exclaimed, “Watch out!”

The snowman’s torso came flying at them, narrowly missing Kristoff entirely.

“Y-you’re not coming?” Anna started shivering in his arms.

“I’ll try to get Elsa to come back, Grandpabbie will know what to do about this magic.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve seen him do it before.”

Olaf put himself together and helped Sven get his tongue off of the railing. Kristof gingerly placed Anna on the reindeer’s back as the snowman leaped onto the beast at the same time.

“Make it fast, Sven. GO!”

Sven bolted down the mountain path, disappearing from sight in mere minutes. Kristoff let out a small sigh as he fished out his climbing gear from his satchel. He knew that  _ thing  _ was still in the front entrance, so there was only one way into the palace at this point. He walked up the side of the mountain, tied his rope around the handle of his pickaxe, and with all of his might, hurled the axe to the balcony, hooking it onto the railing. Giving the rope a secure tug, Kristoff approached the gorge between him and the palace. There was a few hundred feet between him and the ground, so he knew that if the rope failed, he’d be dead for sure.  _ I’ve got to do this, for Anna and the others _ , he thought. With no hesitation, Kristoff leaped off of the mountainside with as much force as he could muster.

XXXXXX

“ _ Keep it together… j-just don’t panic,”  _ Elsa murmured to herself as she paced the floor. She came up here to avoid hurting Anna, and now look what happened. How could she so stupid to think this would actually work? No matter where she went, she was a danger, a monster even. “It’s no use…” she whimpered. She slumped back onto the icy wall and buried her head in her arms. “Don’t feel… don’t feel,” she murmured to herself. Suddenly, a loud *CLANK* came from the balcony. Snapping her head up, she noticed a rather large pickaxe wedged between the design of the railing. She stood up and cautiously walked over to the balcony, trying to see what had put that there. As she stepped out to the balcony, she was greeted by Kristoff hurling himself over the side and onto the balcony floor. Elsa looked on in both surprise and horror as he laid there for a few moments, gasping wildly.

“Kristoff!”

“I’m n-never doing that again!” He heaved as he hoisted himself up on the railing. Kristoff steadied himself against the ice, visibly shaking.

“What are you doing here? I told y-”

“Technically you told  _ Anna  _ to leave. I thought I’d try my luck getting you home.”

“W-well you won’t get anywhere. I’m not leaving,” With that, she walked back into the palace closing the door behind her. Kristoff caught the door just before it slammed shut.

“I kinda promised that I’d get you back home. So, uh, I can’t really leave without you…”

“You’re wasting your time. I already told you I can’t go back  _ multiple times _ ,” Elsa started to choke up as she slumped down in front of the large ice wall the mountain man had taken cover behind earlier, “J-just go home, Kristoff. Back to your family. To your wife.”

“Um… what?” Kristoff gave her a confused look.

“You’re not married?”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not much of a people person,” Kristoff moved to join her, leaning against the icy wall, “Besides, I’ve been alone my entire life. No sense in changing that now.”

“What do you mean?”   
  
Kristoff let out a long sigh, “When I was a baby, I was left on the doorstep of an orphanage. I have no idea who my parents were, whether or not they’re still alive, or where they are. For as long as I can remember, It’s just been me and Sven. It wasn’t until one night that we were adopted by the trolls in the valley…”

Elsa shot up, “You mean…?”   
  
“The same ones that saved Anna before.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”   
  
“Why didn’t you tell me you were the queen of Arendelle before?”

Elsa let out a small scoff, “Fair point.”

Kristoff continued with his story, “Life after that didn’t go over so well. I was taunted, teased, harassed,  _ everything _ , just because my only family was a bunch of rocks. Ever since then, I’ve just been more wary of people, always stuck to myself. All I’ve ever really needed was me and Sven.”

“Kristoff I’m so sor-”   
  
“This isn’t about me. It’s never been about me. This is about  _ you _ . Right now, you have something I never had before: A family that loves you enough to run up here and try and bring you home. You shouldn’t throw that away.”

“I-”   
  


“Stop. It’s obvious that she cares about you despite your powers. Anna came up here  _ by herself _ , I don’t think she needs any more protection.”

“B-but I hurt her… again…”

“You weren’t in the right state of mind,” Kristoff placed a hand on her shoulder, “to be honest, neither of you were, but that’s beside the point. From how she talked about you on the way up here, it’s gonna take a lot more than some ice magic to make her hate you.”

“But what about her? Is she alright?”

“I sent her to Grandpabbie, he’ll know what to do. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

Elsa gave Kristoff a weak smile. She wasn’t sure what possessed him to help her and Anna, but she secretly thanked God for him and his kind deeds. It was at that point that she heard the sound of footsteps outside the palace. Kristoff and Elsa shot up from the floor, both bearing confused looks on their faces.

“Wait here,” he said before stammering, “uh, if you please, Your Majesty.” With that, Kristoff bolted down to the stairs and out of sight.

XXXXXX   
  
Kristoff flung the main doors open, slightly confused at the sight before him. A small group of Arendellian soldiers were amassed in front of the steps beside a rather large snow pile. At the head of the group, a red haired man upon a brown steed was giving some kind of order to them, flanked by two mysterious men in red. Kristoff walked down the steps to meet the group, many of which were already staring at him. The man in the front had turned around to see what everyone was distracted by, sporting a confused look on his face as he dismounted his horse. He tread through the snow and met Kristoff at the base of the icy stairs.

“Um… who are you?” He asked in a confused tone.

“Just a local,” Kristoff replied, “the name’s Kristoff. You don’t exactly look like you come from around here, I gotta say.”

“Prince Hans of the Southern Isles,” the man gave him a slight bow,“If you don’t mind me asking, have you seen the princess of Arendelle around these parts?”

Kristoff was taken aback by the question. If he was just here for Anna, why did he need such a sizable force?

“I may have, why?”

“She went up here to get the queen to return, but no one’s heard of her since she left yesterday. I’ve been in charge ever since, but I was worried about her.”

“Wait,  _ you’re  _ her fiancé?”

“So you met her? Is she alright?”

Kristoff let out a small gulp. How was he going to tell him that she was currently dying from magic and being taken care of by the trolls? He’d either be hung or thrown into an asylum.

“I helped her get up here. And, uh…”

“Is she in there?” Hans pointed to the ice palace.

“No. She left a few hours ago. With the queen, I think.”

“You think? You mean to tell me that you helped her up here,  _ without a horse _ , and just let them go through the wilds without an escort?”

“Is that why you needed a small army, then?”

Hans began to get frustrated, “We weren’t sure of what was up here. You live around here, you should kn-”

“What about these two then?” Kristoff gestured to the two men in red, “They don’t look like they’re from Arendelle.”

Before Hans could retort, one of the red-clad men shot his gaze to the palace, nudging to his friend as they barreled past the prince and the ice harvester. Kristoff rotated his head to see what caused them to run past them in such a fashion. Elsa quickly slammed the doors, revealing herself. 

“She left with the queen, hm? Arrest this man!” Hans drew his sword and chased after the two men in red. Two guards came up to Kristoff with their own swords drawn. Before they could do anything, the snow pile soon came to life, revealing the ice monster that threw Kristoff out before. It let out a monstrous roar as the guards started firing crossbow bolts at it. While they were distracted, Kristoff bolted for the palace as Hans stuck back to fight the monster. Bursting through the door, Kristoff was met with the sounds of the two men running up the steps. With no hesitation, he followed suit, his footsteps echoing throughout the palace as it turned a bright yellow.

Reaching the top of the steps, the two men had Elsa cornered with her hands up, crossbows fixed on her position.

“No, please,” she pleaded, her eyes darting between the two men. 

One of them fired a bolt right at her head as she brought up a wall of ice to catch it. Kristoff dove towards the other man, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud. The man in red struggled underneath him as Kristoff tried to knock the crossbow out of his hand. After a few blows to the stomach, Kristoff gave the man a swift headbutt, causing him to go limp. Kristoff looked over to Elsa, who had pinned the other man to the wall with a series of jagged ice spikes. She produced a vengeful scowl as she used her magic to edge closer to the man, almost as she wanted to impale him.

“ELSA, NO!” Kristoff yelled. Just then, Hans and the other soldiers appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Queen Elsa!” the prince shouted, “Don’t be the monster they fear you are!”

Elsa paused, allowing the magic to dissipate from her hand. Her scowl faded into a look of horror. Twice she had let her emotions control her, and now look at what happened. Kristoff saw how shaken she was and started to walk over to her. Kristoff’s sight moved to the man on the wall, who was slowly struggling to raise his crossbow towards Elsa. Hans dashed over and attempted to wrestle the weapon out of his hands, accidentally firing a bolt at the rope holding the crystalline fixture up. Kristoff dashed towards Elsa, tackling her out of danger as the fixture fell onto him, knocking him out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna gets some help while Hans does Hans things.

Anna gripped Sven’s fur for dear life as he entered a rather large valley. Her hair still faded from its natural red to a snowy white with each step. Olaf was behind her on the reindeer’s back, looking up at the aurora in the night sky.

“Look, Anna,” he said, mesmerized by the dancing colorful lights above, “the sky’s awake…”

Anna didn’t say anything as she shivered sofly. Every part of her felt numb and cold. She lost all feeling in her toes and legs. The only thing keeping her warm was the anger and frustration boiling inside her.  _ I can’t believe Elsa would do something like that!  _ Anna thought,  _ Even after I did all this, she still shut me out! Does she even care about me anymore? _ Anna let out an audible sigh,  _ How could she do that when Arendelle- _ Anna’s eyes went wide, _ GAH! I forgot to tell her! Maybe Kristoff c-c-could… _ Anna shivered fiercely as an icy chill ran up her spine. Sven turned his head to look at her, concern covering his face.

“I’m f-fine,” She said as she stroked the reindeer’s fur. Sven then abruptly stopped in front of a large gathering of mossy boulders. The area they were in looked like some kind of ancient pit, with small round boulders dotting the stonework as far as the eye could see. Before Anna could ask why they were here, Sven knocked on the closest boulder with his hoof. The rocks began shaking fiercely, as if there was a nearby avalanche. One by one, the boulders popped, each revealing a tiny humanoid of stony skin, wearing moss clothing and crystals. One of them, a woman by the looks of it, approached the three of them and took a close look at them.

“SVEN’S HOME!”

The rock woman was met with joyous applause and some confused muttering from the others as they crowded around the three of them.

“Where’s Kristoff?”

“A girl? Did Kristoff find her?”

“Sven and Kristoff never leave each other alone. Where is he?”

“T-trolls…” Anna murmured, slowly sliding off of Sven’s back. The troll woman came up to her, placing a gravelly hand on Anna’s cheek.

“She’s ice cold! Someone get Pabbie over here!”

The trolls parted to the side as another, somewhat larger, rock came tumbling towards them. As it popped out, Anna was greeted by a much older looking troll, with a tuft of moss for hair and a necklace of multicolored crystals around his neck. He approached Anna, taking her cheek in his rocky hand.

“Anna,” he said, his voice coarse and rough like his stony skin, “your skin is like ice! What happened, child?”

“I-I tried to get m-my sister to c-c-come back to Arendelle and f-fix the weather,” Anna shuddered, “b-but sh-she wouldn’t come with me. W-we got into an argument and she- she struck me. K-Kristoff said you would know w-what to do, he s-stayed back to try and get her home.”

Grandpabbie shook his head, “Did she hit your heart?”

  
“I-I think?”

The troll let out a remorseful sigh, “I’m sorry, Anna. Even my magic won’t be able to help you.”

Anna’s eyes went wide, “W-what?!”

  
“If it had struck your head, I could’ve done something. But the heart is too complex to fix through normal means.”

“What’s gonna happen to her?” Olaf asked somberly.

“The ice in her heart will cause her body to freeze over.”   
  
Anna let out an exasperated sigh, “Maybe Elsa  _ does _ hate m-”

“Hold on a sec, hon,” the troll woman interjected, “You said you two had a fight. That doesn’t mean she hates you. People just… make bad choices when they’re upset.”

  
Anna pondered the troll woman’s words. She thought back to how she reacted to Elsa, and how she said some awful things. Maybe she should’ve… Anna shivered once again,causing the thought to leave her mind.

  
“I-Is there a way to fix this?” She muttered.

“Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart, child.”

“Like true love’s kiss!” the troll woman said. The other trolls yelled in agreement.

  
“H-Hans…” Anna muttered, shivering violently, “S-Sven, get me back to Arendelle. I-I need to get to m-my fiance.”

Sven nodded and bolted back the way they came.

“YES! LET’S GO KISS HANS!” Olaf announced triumphantly, “WHO IS THIS HANS?”

XXXXXX   
  
Kristoff stirred awake, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He tried to remember the events that transpired earlier. He faintly remembered Hans, the palace, and Elsa. As soon as he remembered Elsa, his eyes snapped open. When he opened his eyes, he was incredibly puzzled. He was no longer in the ice palace, but instead a stone room with a wooden door at the other end. Kristoff turned around to see a window with bars over it. Looking down, Kristoff realized he was laying on a stone slab. He shot up, trying to get a better look out of the window, only to be jerked back slightly. Looking back, Kristoff noticed that his ankle was chained to the bed. He stretched as far as he could, straining his neck to get a better look out the window. A thick sheet of ice stretched out as far as he could see, with ships dotting the landscape. Overhead, the sky was a dreary grey, dispensing globs of snow at a frequent pace.

“My God,” Kristoff breathed, “It’s worse than I imagined…” His mind came back to Elsa. He couldn’t remember if Anna told her about this. It pained him to imagine how she’d react if she saw this. As if she didn’t blame herself enough…

The sound of footsteps caused Kristoff to snap his neck to the door. The door creaked open, revealing Hans on the other side with a lantern in his hand. He placed the lantern on the stone bench as he entered the room, a fierce scowl on his face. Kristoff returned the scowl, fully remembering what Hans did. If he weren’t restrained at the moment, he’d pummel this pretentious ass to a bloody pulp.

“Alright,” Hans said, taking a seat opposite of Kristoff, “I won’t ask this again. Where. Is. Anna?”

“What do you plan on doing with her?” Kristoff asked.

“That isn’t any of  _ your  _ concern. I just want to know what you did to my fi-

  
“How can you even say that with a straight face? You two barely know each other from what she was saying.”   
  
“Like you know what love is like, mountain man! Either you tell me where she is or I torture it out of you.”   
  
“You don’t have the power to do that!”   
  
“Unfortunately, I do. Anna left me in charge before she left. Now tell me where she is or-”   
  


“If you tell me what you did with Elsa, I’ll tell you where Anna is.”

Hans let out an exasperated sigh, “She ran after you pushed her out of the way. She went north, past the mountains, possibly never to be seen again. Does  _ that  _ answer your question?”

Kristoff let his mouth hang agape as his heart skipped a beat. She really ran away? After that heart to heart they had, she just left? Kristoff let out a deep sigh, “Anna went to the Valley of the Living Rock. Something happened at the ice palace and I sent her there for some help.”

  
Hans simply nodded, “See? That wasn’t so hard, wasn’t it? Even for someone of little intelligence like yourself.”

  
Kristoff ignored the insult and said, “So will you let me go?”

“Not yet,” Hans stood up from the bench, gripping his lantern, “I’m going to see if your story is true. If it is, you’re free to go. If not, you’ll be hanged as a traitor.” Kristoff watched as Hans marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Kristoff flopped down onto the stone bench. How was he going to explain this to Anna? Would she forgive him? What about the others, what would they do now? How would they fix the weather now? Kristoff ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a frustrated groan.

Oddly enough, his thoughts dwelt on Elsa. It pained him to think how she’d be alone in the mountains, full of hatred for herself. And all because she was born with ice magic? He wished he could just make her see that she wasn’t the awful monster she thinks she is.

But for now, Kristoff could only pray that she was safe, wherever she was.   
  


XXXXXX

Elsa lightly stirred from her slumber. As her eyes slowly fluttered open, she quickly took in her surroundings. She was back in Arendelle, specifically the dungeons. Looking down at her body, she noticed someone had placed a crude looking blanket over her at some point. Elsa sat up, letting the blanket fall to the stone floor in a disheveled lump as her eyes readjusted to the lighting. The only source of brightness came from the window above her. She bolted towards the window, only to be met with resistance. Looking down, Elsa’s hands were encased in metal compartments, both of which were chained to a point in the center of the room. Elsa struggled to look out the window to see what was going on. When she got sight of the fjord, she wished she hadn’t. 

The entire fjord was a thick sheet of ice, with the wreckage of ships jutting out everywhere. The sky was a large grey expanse of nothingness, dispersing snow at a frequent pace.  _ Why would it be snowing?  _ Elsa thought,  _ It’s July. The only way it would be snowing is if- _ Elsa’s eyes went wide as her heart stopped beating. Was  _ she  _ the one responsible for this? Elsa thought back to that first night when she fled, running across the fjord. She could feel the air get colder, she could see the snow around her, but she thought it was just in her immediate area. Now, she knew that she was horribly wrong.

“What have I done?” she said aloud to no one in particular. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as her heart rate increased. Why was she brought back? Did she not cause enough destruction here? This curse did more harm to everyone. It was better for her to stay in the mountains… 

Just then, the door behind her creaked open. Anna’s fiance, Hans if Elsa remembered correctly, peeked in at her, a lantern in his hand. His face bore a look of concern as he stepped into the room.

“Why did you bring me here?” She asked, trying to mask the cracking in her voice.

“I needed to make sure you were safe from those men,” Hans replied as he sat down on the stone bench.

“But I’m a danger to Arendelle,” Elsa held up her cuffed hands, “Please, get Anna.”

“Anna hasn’t returned…”   
  
Elsa stood in shock. Anna had to have left hours ago, how was she not back? Did something happen to her?

  
“What about the ice harvester that was up there? What happened to him?”

Hans let out a long sigh, “I’m sorry. When the chandelier fell, he knocked you out of the way. It fell on him, we couldn’t get him out… I’m afraid he’s dead.”

Elsa looked away from Hans. She couldn’t believe it. Kristoff was dead because of her, Anna’s gone missing, and the country is frozen over, all because Elsa was so…  _ selfish. _ Elsa bit back tears when Hans spoke up again.

“We need your help, Your Majesty. Just, cast away the winter. Bring back summer, please…”

“Can’t you see,” Elsa sniffled, “I can’t…”

Hans looked to be taken aback at Elsa’s answer. He stared at a fixed point onto the floor for a second before standing up.

“When Anna gets back,” he said, placing a hand on her bare shoulder, “I’ll have her brought down here as soon as possible. I-I’m sorry, I truly am.” Hans proceeded out of the door, gently closing it behind him.

Elsa stared down at the floor. All of this was her fault. Kristoff, Anna, Arendelle,  _ everything  _ was ruined all because of her and this… this curse! How many more needed to suffer because of her?

Her thoughts lingered on Kristoff. Here was a man, who didn’t even know who she was at first, who helped her without question, who tried to protect her multiple times, who was dead because of her magic. She didn’t even get to tell him how much it meant to her.

But for now, all she could do is pray that Anna returns safely and quickly… 


	6. Chapter 6

Elsa didn’t know how long she sat in her cell. Was it hours? Minutes? It was hard to tell with the sun blotted out by grey clouds. She stared at the floor to pass the time, carefully studying the cracks on the floor. All the while, she was left alone with her thoughts. Where was Anna? Would she have any compassion left for her? Twice now, Anna was hurt because she let her emotions run wild. Not only that, but her actions caused the whole country to be frozen over. Guilt pooled in the bottom of her stomach, churning it like she had eaten some bad food. Her mind wandered over to Kristoff. Her selfishness cost him his life, something she would never be able to live down.  _ If  _ she was able to live. The guilt inside her spiked thinking about how he died trying to protect her for a second time.

It was then when she heard some commotion outside her cell door. Several guards, from the sound of it.

“Careful… she’s dangerous…”

Guilt soon turned to panic as the cell became covered in frost. Ice trailed through the stone and up her restraints as she struggled against the metal shackles. As the door opened, she released a burst of icy energy, shattering the restraints and blasting the wall behind her. Seeing no other choice, Elsa bolted out of the room and onto the fjord itself.

XXXXXX   
  
“C’mon… Just. A little.  _ More!”  _ Kristoff grunted as he smashed his ankle restraint against the stone bench. Motivated by panic, he had been trying for what felt like hours to free himself, with little progress to show. He needed to get out of here, find Elsa, and make sure she’s safe. Someone with that much hate for themself should  _ never  _ be left alone. Hopefully he wasn’t too late to help her.

After a few more strikes, Kristoff heard a soft *chink* from the restraint as it fell in two pieces onto the floor. “Thank God,” Kristoff said, grabbing the small broken fragment. He went up to the door as he flaked a piece of metal off the shackle. Once he had a piece big enough to wedge into the lock, he began jimmying the piece in the door’s contraptions. Years as an orphan taught him a few niche skills, one of which included basic lockpicking. Of course, his time working as an ice harvester caused him to get a bit rusty at lockpicking, but it was still worth a try. As he jostled the fragment inside the lock, he huffed as it snapped in two, dropping a metal shard at his feet.  _ Dammit,  _ he thought,  _ Guess my hands aren’t as nimble as they used to be… _ He returned to the broken shackle to get another piece of metal, he overheard some guards talking amongst themselves.

  
“Careful… she’s dangerous…”   
  


The guards’ words puzzled Kristoff. There was someone else down here? Who? And how dangerous are they? Just then, Kristoff heard a strange crackling sound from above him. He looked up and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A layer of frost crept its way across the ceiling and down the walls. He shuddered at the sudden drop in temperature, rubbing his arms for warmth. How was this happening? Suddenly, the walls burst in a sheet of ice and frost. Kristoff crouched down and put his hands over his head, expecting a shower of stone to fall on him, but none came. Peering out, Kristoff could fully see the gray expanse of the fjord. Amongst the gray and browns of the frozen water and wrecked ships, Kristoff noticed a light shade of sapphire quickly darting across the ice. His face lit up in excitement.

  
“E-Elsa? ELSA!” Kristoff shouted, darting towards her. She hadn’t run off to the north?! They brought her here? Kristoff could feel his rage building. That bastard lied to him! But why? What did he have to gain for lying to him about Elsa? That was the furthest thing from Kristoff’s mind at the moment. As he ran out onto the fjord, the snowfall soon picked up in speed and ferocity, to the point where he couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead of him. It didn’t matter to him, though. He just needed to get to Elsa.

Kristoff trudged through the snow and sleet, trying to find Elsa again. Perhaps it was simply a trick his mind played on him. His heart grew heavy at the idea, but still he maintained his course. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. Well, it was more like a familiar grunt, followed by the sound of hooves click-clacking on the ice. Kristoff turned to see Sven bolting at him with a large grin on his face. The reindeer tackled him as he stroked the beast’s fur.

“I missed you too, buddy,” Kristoff said, “What happened to Anna? Is she alright?”

“I can answer that!” 

Kristoff turned to face where the sound was coming from. Olaf’s body swirled around him, followed by his head and stick hands. Kristoff jumped up and grabbed the snowman’s head, bringing him to eye level.

“What happened? Where’s Anna?”   
  
“Oh,” Olaf said enthusiastically, “Well her fiance, Hans, was actually just using her to get to Elsa so he could kill her and become king and left Anna to die until I came and found her. Then she felt bad for not knowing true love and then I said ‘love is putting others before yourself, like how Elsa put your safety before her happiness’ and she-”

  
“Wait, back up! Hans did  _ what?! _ ”

“Please let me finish. So now, Anna’s running around trying to find Elsa before she completely freezes over because-” Kristoff placed his hand over Olaf’s mouth.

“We need to find Elsa and Anna, and  _ fast!”  _ Kristoff said, hopping onto Sven’s back, “Let’s go, buddy!” Sven bolted across the ice and into the vast grey of the storm.

XXXXXX   
  


Elsa ran. That’s all she could do, run for the rest of her life. Anna and Arendelle would be safe, and she’d be as far away as possible, so that she wouldn’t be a threat to anyone. No more had to die because of her. She attempted to run north, far beyond the mountains, where she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone, but the storm obstructed her vision so much that it was impossible to tell north from south. Suddenly, from behind her, she heard footsteps approaching, crunching the snow and ice beneath her. She turned around to find Hans amidst the blizzard. Panic jolted through her body as she turned to run.

“Elsa,” Hans shouted above the winds, “You can’t run away from this!”

She turned around to face Hans. All she wanted to do was shout “Stay back,” but the words were lost in her throat.

“Just take care of my sister!” She yelled.

“Anna? She came back to me ice cold. Her heart was frozen solid! She said there was ice in her heart, put there by you!”

Elsa’s face turned pale as she processed the news. Anna couldn’t be…

“Your sister is dead. Because of you.”

The words pierced her heart like an ice pick. Elsa turned to run, but her legs wouldn’t move. Every part of her screamed out in agony as she collapsed to the ground. All the while, Hans’s words rang out in her head. She didn’t notice the storm subsiding around her, suspending snowflakes in the air. She didn’t notice that Hans had drawn his sword as he slowly approached her. None of that mattered to her.

Anna was dead. Kristoff was dead. And it was all Elsa’s fault.   
  


XXXXXX   
  
“Oooh!” Olaf said looking all around him, “Looks like it stopped snowing!”

Kristoff reached out and touched one of the suspended snowflakes. As soon as his finger touched the icy particle, it fell to the ground and dissipated. He looked around as he tried to find the reason behind the sudden shift in weather. That’s when he saw her, just a few feet away. Elsa knelt on the ground, her back turned to him while she brought a hand to her head. Just behind her, Hans stood there, slowly approaching with a sword drawn. Panic overtook Kristoff’s senses as he dashed towards the two of them. The cold and ice didn’t slow him down as he and Sven bolted across the frozen fjord. Out of nowhere, just as Hans brought the sword down, Anna stepped in between them, her skin half blue and her hair completely white. As the sword touched her skin, the blade exploded with a fantastic light, blasting Hans out of the way like a ragdoll. Kristoff could only watch as Anna’s skin turned to ice as she breathed her last breath before turning into an ice statue.

XXXXXX   
  
Elsa slowly turned her head. She was expecting to meet her end by a sword, but here she still was. When she saw what had stepped in to save her, her heart stopped. Anna stood over her, her skin made of ice and frost. Every inch of her was completely frozen over, like a statue

“ANNA!” She yelled, leaping up to meet Anna’s face. Her eyes were still and lifeless, staring off into the sky. “No, please no,” Elsa pleaded as she cupped Anna’s face in her hands. Elsa felt tears fall down her face as she gazed at Anna’s lifeless statue. She broke down, embracing what used to be her sister and sobbed heavily. 

Now, she was truly alone in the world. That was, at least, until she felt the statue melt away. No longer did she feel ice and cold. Instead, she felt the soft fabric of clothing. She looked up and her heart was instantly filled with gratitude. Anna was smiling back at her!

“Anna!”

  
Elsa shot up from the ground and embraced her sister. Anna did the same, relishing in Elsa’s warmth. Tears pricked the corners of their eyes as they looked at each other.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Elsa choked, “I didn’t mean to hurt you,  _ ever _ . I-”

  
“It should be me who’s apologizing,” Anna interrupted, similarly on the verge of tears, “I said some awful things up at the mountain that I shouldn’t have. I was just so  _ frustrated _ after all these years and-”   
  
Elsa gripped Anna tighter than before. Her sister’s warmth was something she could get used to. Tears fell down her cheeks in small streams, not of sorrow, but of joy.

“After what I did, you still risked your life for me?”

  
“I love you.”

Olaf let out a surprised gasp, “‘An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!’”

Elsa pondered the snowman’s words.  _ Love… thaw…  _ “That’s it!”

Elsa threw her hands to the ground as the suspended snowflakes began disappearing one by one. Soon the ice started to fade away as a submerged ship rose from the ice, conveniently where they stood. The sky went from the dreary grey to a beautiful shade of blue as Elsa condensed the storm into a massive snowflake before it vanished in a spectacle of light.

“I knew you could do it!” Anna placed her hand on Elsa’s shoulder.

“Elsa?” A strange but familiar voice said.

Elsa looked over to her right as her jaw dropped. Kristoff stood there, smiling like a fool with Olaf and Sven. He was alive?

_ He was alive! _

“Kristoff!” Elsa ran over to him eagerly as he enveloped her in his arms. It was strange at first, but Elsa thought that this felt… right. Like she could spend forever in his arms. A bright red overtook her face from the thought as she broke from his embrace.

“Hans told me you died!” She sputtered.

“He told me you ran after the chandelier fell!” Kristoff responded.

A long drawn out groan interrupted their conversation. Hans was also on the ship, currently getting the shit kicked out of him by Anna.

“We should probably stop her,” Elsa said.

“Yeah… in a minute,” Kristoff added, seemingly enjoying the display before him with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a quick heads up, next chapter's gonna be the last one. And I guarantee you won't want to miss it ;)


	7. Chapter 7

“Alright, can you just show me what it is?” Kristoff asked. Elsa put a blindfold around his eyes as she led him… somewhere. It was difficult to know with the large cloth tied around his head that blocked his vision.

“Okay, you can take it off now.”

Kristoff reached behind him and undid the knot holding the blindfold on his head. As it fell, Kristoff’s jaw dropped. Before him was a beautiful looking sled, made of a dark wood with white trimming and accents.

“What is  _ this  _ for?” He sputtered.

“For your service to me and Anna,” Elsa replied, “you saved our lives, and that is something I wouldn’t forget.”

“I-”

Elsa giggled, “It’s also a symbol for your appointment of Royal Ice Master and Deliverer.”

“That’s not a real position!”

“It wasn’t. Until I made it, that is. Queen, remember?”

Kristoff’s shock soon faded to elation. This woman was something else.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?”

“Of course I did! You risked your life for me and my sister without question. You deserved  _ some  _ kind of reward. Do you… like it?”

“Like it? I  _ love it!”  _ Kristoff spun her around, earning a sudden gasp from the queen followed by a slight giggle. Kristoff stopped spinning her as his heart leaped in his chest. He was certain this was the first time she laughed in front of him, and it was like no other sound he heard in his life. What he wouldn’t give to hear her laugh more often.

Kristoff quickly looked around, noticing the rather sizable crowd they attracted. He quickly but gently set her back down on the ground before noticing the red tint in her face.

“T-thank you!” Kristoff stuttered, massaging the back of his neck.

“Y-you’re more than welcome,” Elsa replied meekly. Just then, a group of well dressed elderly men surrounded the queen, each vying for her attention. Elsa struggled to talk to Kristoff as they whisked her away.

“Hey-” Kristoff said. But it was too late, Elsa was already out of earshot. Kristoff couldn’t help but feel… empty. Like something was missing from his soul when she wasn’t around.

Kristoff let out a sigh and walked over to his new sled. Maybe a few days on the ice will help ease his thoughts.

_ Later that evening... _   
  


“You have that look again.” Anna said.

“What look?” Elsa replied. The two of them cuddled close on the couch in the study together, a large comforter wrapped around them as they discussed the day’s events. Olaf was on the floor in front of them, watching the roaring fire with amazement.

“Like you just stepped into a warm bath. I mean, all I did was mention Kristoff and…” Anna’s eyes went wide, “Ohhhhh, I see what’s going on.”

“What’s going on?” Olaf said, turning his head to the sisters.

Anna dramatically brought her hand up to her head, “Love! Just like in Mother’s romance novels!”

Elsa’s face went bright red, “I-it’s not like that! He’s just nice and kind and…” The queen looked down in shock. A small layer of frost covered the blanket and crept onto the floor.

“So does  _ that  _ happen often?” Anna asked, pointing to the frost.

“N-no…”

Anna chuckled, “Have you thought about bringing him here?”

  
“Anna! What would people say?!”

“What would they do? Tell the queen?”

Elsa opened her mouth to say something, but remained silent. It was a few seconds before Elsa responded.

“What if he doesn’t like me?”   
  


“Leave that to me.”

  
“I don’t like the sound of that…”

_ The Next Day… _

“Kristoff- er, sir…” Freya said as she walked up to Kristoff. He and Sven were currently assisting the others in loading up the day’s harvest of ice onto their sleds. As the last sled pulled away, Kristoff and Sven turned to face Freya.

“You can just call me Kristoff, you know,” Kristoff smirked, “is something wrong?”

  
“Well, uh, s-someone’s here to see you…” Freya gestured behind her. Anna was standing there, grinning like a fool.

“O-oh… Princess Anna,” Kristoff slightly bowed, “this is, uh, unexpected…”

“After what we’ve been through, you can just call me Anna. But that’s beside the point, I actually came here to ask you something.”

Kristoff and Sven looked at her with puzzled looks. Anna turned to Freya and said, “Um, could you excuse us for a moment? Kinda a personal conversation here.”

  
“Uh, y-yes your highness…” Freya scurried away to her own sled and flew off.

“Ssssoooo…” Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck, “What did you ne-”

“What do you think of Elsa?”

Kristoff’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

“I just… wanted to know what you thought about her, is all.”

Kristoff felt his face flare up. He may or may not have been thinking about Elsa ever since yesterday. Well, it was more about him and Elsa… together, but he quickly shook those ideas from his head.

“She’s… nice…”

“‘Nice?’ is that all?”

  
“Well, what did you want me to say? She’s nice and kind and beautif- uh.”

Anna’s face lit up, “You like her, don’t you?”

Sven nudged Kristoff’s side with his antlers. Kristoff’s face went bright red as he fumbled around with his words.

“Well- you see- I- uh…”

“It’s alright, Kristoff, you can be honest with me.”

Kristoff folded his arms as he averted his gaze from Anna. He’d never revealed his feelings in front of anyone before, save Sven and the trolls.

“Y-yes…” he murmured. He nearly jumped out of skin when Anna squealed like a newborn piglet.

“THAT’S PERFECT!”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, she’s been talking about how she likes you and she wasn’t sure if you felt the same way and-”

“ _ Wait, what? _ ” Kristoff felt his heartbeat pick up significantly.

“I need you to come with me!” Anna gripped his arms and began dragging him. Kristoff planted his feet to the ground, causing Anna to jerk forward. “Hey! Don’t be shy!”

“It’s not that! It’s just… she’s the  _ queen!  _ And I’m… just Kristoff…”

“You saved us! You're more than ‘just Kristoff’ to us!”

“But wouldn’t people… y’know,  _ talk?” _

“Well, they  _ sorta  _ think you two already have something going on after what happened the other day with the sled.”

Kristoff thought about Anna’s words for a moment. He was replaying that scene in his head all day, remembering how happy the two of them were. 

“Are you sure she likes me?”   
  
“Absolutely! If you still don’t believe me, why don’t you come to the castle and see for yourself?”

Kristoff chewed on his lower lip for a second as he turned to Sven. The reindeer began nodding furiously, grinning like a fool. Kristoff returned the grin and said, “Alright, I’ll come along.”

“YES!” Anna bolted back to her horse as Sven walked up to Kristoff’s side.

“At LeAsT yOu’Re FaCiNg ThIs HeAd On,” Kristoff said in Sven’s voice.

“Yeah, I-I guess,” he said in his own voice, “But I’m still not sure…”   
  


“DoN’t Be SiLlY, yOu CaN’t RuN fRoM yOuR fEeLiNgS.”

“I know! I just… you know…”

“YoU fEeL wHaT yOu FeEl AnD yOuR fEelInGs ArE rEaL!”

  
Kristoff let out a slight chuckle, “Okay, Mr. Poet, let’s just get to the castle.” Kristoff hopped onto Sven’s back as the reindeer bolted towards Anna.

XXXXXX   
  
“You did  _ what?!”  _ Elsa barked at her sister. Anna had shared the news of a certain ice harvester coming to the castle and Elsa was… less than pleased to hear that.

“Oh, come on, Elsa!” Anna said, “You can’t just ignore your feelings like this!”

“It’s not that, Anna. It’s just… we just rekindled our relationship, I shouldn’t throw that out the window.”   
  
“What? Don’t be ridiculous! You can have both, you know.”

Elsa began rubbing her hands together before Anna took them in her own. 

“You shouldn’t feel that you need to sacrifice your happiness for me. Not again.”

Elsa stared at their hands for a second before returning to Anna’s eyes with a warm smile.

“And you’re sure you won’t get jealous?”

  
“Not a chance! I think I’ll wait a bit before getting involved with stuff like that,” Anna gave her sister a wink, “Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, though.”

  
Elsa stifled a giggle when she heard hooves clacking on the stones behind her. Turning around, her face turned bright red as Kristoff walked up to them. As he approached, she could tell his face was as red as hers. 

“H-hi…” Kristoff said sheepishly. His hand instinctively went to the back of his neck as he averted his gaze.

“Hi…” Elsa replied, staring at the floor. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife

“Well,” Anna said, breaking the silence, “I’m just gonna go get Olaf, you two sit tight!” With that, Anna darted off into the castle.

“So…” Kristoff started, “Anna, um, said there was something you wanted to talk about?”

“Yyyyyyes,” Elsa hesitated, “But first, would you like to come in?”

Kristoff opened his mouth to say something when Sven nudged him forward. The ice harvester let out a nervous chuckle as he walked in the direction Sven was egging him in. He relented, moving through the castle doors on his own accord while Elsa followed. 

Elsa felt her heart race. She had no idea what to do or say to him? Should she be upfront about it? Pretend to not be interested until he showed some sign of attraction? Her mind raced so fast that she nearly ran into a table at least twice.

Kristoff wasn’t faring well, either. He kept his hands firmly at his sides, careful not to touch anything. His mind kept insisting that he was mistaken and that he was in the wrong place. But he was with Elsa, which eased his mind a smidgen. Even then, doubt and worry still clouded his mind.

The two of them said nothing as they meandered through the castle, eventually ending up in the castle garden. It was completely empty, void of any prying eyes of the castle staff and guards. Elsa and Kristoff made their way to a small bench placed just along the edge of a small lake. The two of them sat down next to each other, their faces bright red. Neither of them said anything for several minutes as they watched the ducks swimming through the water. Elsa was the first to break the silence.

“Kristoff…” she said, “I… I’m sorry about leaving without a proper goodbye yesterday.”   
  


“It’s fine,” Kristoff replied, twiddling his thumbs, “I mean, you  _ are  _ the queen and those guys looked important and-”

“But you’re important as well!” Elsa reached over and placed her hand on his. She had no idea how massive his hands were compared to her own, “You did more for me and Anna than anyone else. And without even knowing who we were!”

“But even then, I’m just… me. Nothing really special, just Kristoff.”

Elsa traced his knuckles with her fingers as she locked eyes with him. “Well, you’re a  _ lot  _ more than just Kristoff to me.” She said softly. The two of them slowly inched their faces together until they were almost bumping noses. Elsa’s breath hitched her face flared up as the temperature dropped around them. Her heartbeat raced with her mind as she thought about what to do next. Kristoff cupped her cheek in his hand and finally,  _ finally,  _ closed the gap between them with a kiss. His lips were surprisingly soft against hers as she closed her eyes and relished this wondrous feeling. After a few brief moments, they drew away from each other, warm smiles plastered on their faces. Elsa absentmindedly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear that wasn’t there as she started giggling nervously.

“S-sorry.” Kristoff murmured, “It’s just that… I’ve kinda wanted to do that for a while.”

  
“Don’t apologize,” Elsa replied, “I’ve wanted that too…”

“I guess we should talk about this a little more, then?”

“Y-yeah…” Elsa leaned over to him and pressed her lips against his once again.

XXXXXXX   
  


“Oh, wow!” Olaf said, peering into the garden, “I guess you were right, Anna!”

Anna peered into the garden as well with a massive smile on her face. She let out a sigh and said, “C’mon, Olaf. We should probably leave them alone for now.”

“Aw, but I wanna go and congratulate them! They look so happy together!”

  
Anna looked back at her sister and Kristoff. The two sat together, hand in hand, talking while the ducks swam by on the lake.

  
“They’ve got some things to work out for now. You can congratulate them in a bit once they’re done.”

Anna shooed him away before taking one more look at Kristoff and her sister. She could see how happy Elsa was as she leaned against him. Seeing Elsa this happy made Anna’s heart swell with joy.

_ Enjoy it, Elsa,  _ she thought,  _ You deserve it. _ With that, Anna darted off to catch up with Olaf, who was eager to get started on his special surprise for Elsa and Kristoff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank everyone who followed this from the beginnning! The comments and Kudos mean a lot to me and it was just a blast seeing everyone enjoy this fic so much!


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